The cultivation of certain fungi as a major source of food by some species of ants has been reported, A. Hervey, C. T. Rogerson, and I. Leong, Brittonia, 29, 226 (1977). It was reported recently that one such fungus, a Lepiota species, when grown in the laboratory produces a chlorinated antibiotic, lepiochlorin, for which the following structure was proposed by M. S. R. Nair and A. Hervey, Phytochemistry, 18, 326, (1979): ##STR1##
According to the present invention we have discovered a method for synthesizing this potentially valuable antibiotic. This novel method promises to be simpler and more efficient as a means for obtaining the drug, and it is to be expected that our method will supercede the method heretofore reported in the literature.
The invention described herein was made in the course of work under a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services.